Amplitude controlled current regulator



March 23, 1948. F. A. RUSSELL AMPLITUDE CONTROLLED CURRENT REGULATOR 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1, 1 946 FIG.|

SOURCE GONTROL'| is I II INVENTOR. FREDERICK A; RUSSELL A TTORNEY March 23, 1948.

F. A. RUSSELL LOAD 24 A.c. CONTROL AMPLITUDE CONTROLLED CURRENT REGULATOR Filed March 1, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SOURCE INVENTOR. FREDERICK A. RUSSELL A T TOR/V5 Y Patented Mar. 23, 1948 UNITED- STATES: oFFi-cE Frederick Russell, 1 Summit, J'.'-, assignor; to the'United States ofAmerica as'represented by the'Secretary offWar AppliatiohMarcltl, 194.6, Sri'alNo-J 651,307 1' claim; (01. 171-119) This: invention relates to electricalcircuits, for? use in controlrsystems" and morerpa'rticularly t0- circuitsfor controlling the average current which flows through a load.

An example of use of 1' the present invention wouldjbein a servo mechanism. wherein a sinu soidalcontrol voltage mayvary in amplitude-from: a maximum through zeroto a maxirnurncutof' phase relationtto' control the magnitude and di rection of, rotationiof some device such as an. antenna, an indicator or other motor driven :device. Apparatus used heretofore for controlling the average D;-C'. current. through: a load'have utilized phase controlledrectifiers; In-these con trol circuits the phase of a' sinusoidal'voltage'ap plied to a control grid-of a'rectiiier or control tube is variedwith respect to the'sinu'so'idal voltage which is. being rectified, thus varying the por tion of each half cycle'during which the control tube conducts. Inmany' instances-itv iseasier to obtain a voltagewhich variesin amplitude thanto obtaina voltagewhich'varies in' phase in accordance with data which it is desired totrans mitto a motor orother device.

It is an object o'f-the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved circuit in whichcontrolled'rectificationis obtained by utilization of a control Voltage which varies in" amplitude rather than in phase.

For a betterunderstanding of the invention; together with other and further objects thereof; reference is had to the following description taken. in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is' a schematic wiringdiagrarn of a circuit illustrating the basic principles of' the pres ent invention;

Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 illustrate the waveforms of the voltages applied to certain elements of the circuit of Fig. 1 and whichtfurther illustrate the manner of operation of the circuit of Fig; 1;

Fig; '7'is'"a diagi'am of a typical'cir'cuitfor con--' trol of the current supplied to one loadinac cordance with the presentlinvention; and

Fig. 8 is-"a diagram ora typical circuit'iorcontrol'oi the currents supplied to two loads inpush pull fashion.

Reference is now had'to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof. The simplified circuit shown in Fig. 1 is here utilized to illustrate the principle of operation of the present inven tion, and'includes a gas tube lllhaving four electrodes, namely, a plate :2, a screen grid [4, a control grid l6, and a cathode it. The plate I2 is connected through a load resistor 29' to an Az-cxsource 22; The screen gridhtis also-con nectedto theA;-C-. source 22; One terminal of the"A.-C.' sourceiisj groundedas is the cathode l Oneterminal of: anA.-C. control source 24' is grounded, andasecondterminal is connected to thecontrotgrid' L6: Adashedline 2% connectingtheir-C; sourceZTwith theA.'-C. control 24 indicates-,that-the"A.--C. control 24 may be synchronized or controlled initially by' the A;-C. source 22.- Thevoltagesonthe control grid is and screen'grid l4 withrespecttoground'are desig nated by eg and es, respectively. The voltage applied across the-plate circuit oftube I!) includingeload 2B is. designated by e A gas tube as specified-hasthe primary advantageover a vacuum tube in that it has highcurrent low-voltage characteristic and hence is particularly-useful as a controlled recti'- fier. Agastube is inherently an off-on tube, and its control grid or grids have little effect upon the'amount orconduction after conduction starts. Theiaverage current which flows through such atubemay, however,-be varied by control of the time at which the tube starts conducting in its cycle'ofoperation.

Reference isnow had to Figs. 2' through 6 inclusive which illustrate characteristics of the circuitiof Fig. 1.v Inv Fig. 2 the sinusoidal curve labeled'e is the'waveform of the voltage applied to the load 20 of the control tube 19. The curve esrepresents the-voltage'applied to the screen grid l4; and in the examples given in Figs. 2 through 6 is in' phase quadrature'with curve 81;. The voltage applied to the control grid I5 is, in Fig.2,- assumed' to be zero.- The gas tetrode has characteristics such" that when the plate 12 is positive with respect to the cathode l8 and both grids are at cathode potentia-l-the tube will conduct. In certain actual embodiments this con ductive conditionmay be obtained by application of appropriatezD-C. bias voltages. Since thes creenigrid-.Mzis physically located farther fronrtheicathode'l81than is the'control grid itzisl'esseffective'in its control than the cortrol1grid:l62: However, the ratio of the sensitivity ofthetwo' grids. remains substantially constant. Tl'lereifore,the'curve Cs in. Figs. 2, through 6 rep resents in' amplitude the effective voltage applied toithe screengrid II. If ther'atio of sensitivity ofl'the two" grids" were, for example, 3, then the actualivoltage applied to the screen grid l4 would be'three.times thatrepresented by the curve es in. Figs.'2i through-6" inclusive. Under the conditionsoutlined above and with reference to Fig. 2, the tube Ill-twill conduct'for one-fourth of a- 3 cycle beginning at the time when the voltage es passes through zero during a positive half cycle of e This portion of the complete cycle of the curve e during which the tube l conducts is shaded in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 3 the curves e and es are again as in Fig. 2. The voltage 6g applied to the control grid l 6 is here shown as having a small value in phase with the voltage 6;). A curve designated by e is the resultant or sum of the curves es and e The tube l0 conducts when this resultant curve e passes through zero, and as before, the portion of the cycle during which the tube l0 conducts is shaded. In Fig. 4 the amplitude of the curve 6g has been increased to such an extent that the resultant or summation of e and es yields a resultant e which is so nearly thesame as eg that it is here represented by the same curve as eg. In this instance the tube l0 conducts throughout substantially all of one-half cycle of the curve e In Fig. 5 the curve 6g has been reversed in polarity and is shown as having a small magnitude. The curve 6 again represents the resultant or the summation of the curves es and eg. The tube it here conducts less than one-fourth of the complete cycle of 81:. In Fig. 6 the voltage a; is shown as having been increased greatly in magnitude such that the summation of eg and c5 is substantially equal to eg and is therefore represented by the same wave. Under this latter condition the tube ID will not conduct during any portion of the cycle.

The conditions illustrated in Figs. 2 through 6 show how the conduction of the tube l0 may be controlled from a maximum to zero. If the phase of the signal es is other than in quadrature with the voltage e the conduction of the tube l0 cannot be controlled throughout this complete variation. However, in certain instances it is desirable to restrict the period of conduction of the tube H) to less than the complete variation shown here. For example, it may be required that the control voltage reach a predetermined amplitude before any control is obtained.

Fig. '7 illustrates a practical embodiment of the invention, which comprises tube l0 having a plate 52, screen grid [4, control grid l6, and cathode l8. The A.-C. source 22 is connected to a transformer 28. The secondary of the transformer 28 is center tapped. One end of the secondary winding of the transformer 28 is connected through a load 30 to the plate [2. The load 30 may be any load which it is desired to control, for example, it may be a resistor, a relay, a magnetic clutch, or a winding of a D.-C. motor. The center tap of the secondary winding of the transformer 28 is connected to the cathode I 8 and to ground. The remaining end of the secondary winding of the transformer 28 is connected through a parallel combination of a resister 32 and a capacitor 34 to a resistor 36, the remaining end of which is grounded. The junction of the resistor 36 with the parallel combination of the resistor 32 and capacitor 34 is connected to the screen grid M. As an example of typical values which may be used for a substantially 135 degree phase relationship between signals applied to the screen grid [4 and to the plate circuit including load 30, the frequency of A.-C. source 22 may be 400 cycles, resistors 32 and 36 may be 500,000 and 25,000 ohms, respectively, and capacitance 34 may havea value of .001 microfarad. If a phase relationship of 45 degrees is desired, the parallel combination of the resistor 32 and capacitor 34 may be connected to the same end of the secondary winding of the transformer 28 to which the load 30 is connected. The A.-C. control 24 is connected to the control grid l6, as in Fig. 1.

The operation of the circuit of Fig. 7 is analogous to the operation of the circuit of Fig. 1. The current flowing through the load 30 can be varied from a maximum to a minimum by variation of the A.-C. control 24.

Reference is now had to Fig. 8 of the drawings which illustrates a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the present invention in which the currents in two loads may controlled in a push-pull fashion. The A.-C. source 22 is connected to the primary windings of transformers 31 and 38. The secondary windings of transformers 31 and 38 are center tapped. Across the secondary winding of transformer 38 potentiometers 39 and 30 are serially connected. The junction of the potentiometers 39 and 40 is connected to the center tap of the secondary winding of transformer 38 and to ground. The contact arms of the potentiometers 39 and 4B are mechanically connected together in such a manner that when they are moved to increase the amplitude of the signal on one of the two arms the amplitude of the signal on the remaining arm is decreased. Resistors H and 42 are serially connected between the contact arms of the potentiometers 3S and 30. The junction between the resistors -l and 42 is connected to a conventional voltage amplifier 44. The output of the amplifier 44 is connected to a second voltage amplifier 60. Other stages of amplification may be added if desired, or one or both of the two shown may be eliminated if desired. The output of the amplifier 46 is connected through isolating resistors 43 and 50 to the control grids 52 and 54 of gas tetrode tubes 50 and 58. The cathodes 60 and 52 of the control tubes 56 and 58 are connected to a voltage divider network which comprises resistors 65 and 66 and which provides proper biasing conditions for the tubes 50 and 5B. The cathodes 60 and B2 are also connected to the center tap of the secondary winding of the transformer 37. The ends of the secondary winding of the transformer 31 are respectively connected through loads 08 and 10 to the plates 12 and of tubes 56 and 58. The loads 68 and 70 may, for example, be magnetic clutches, relays, or the windings of motors. Another form which the loads 68 and 10 might take would be the windings of an Amplidyne. The junction between the load 63 and the secondary winding of the transformer 31 is connected through a parallel combination of a resistor 15 and capacitor 58 to a resistor 80, the remaining end of which is grounded. The junction between the resistor and the parallel combination of the resistor 16 and capacitor 18 is connected to the screen grid of the tube 58. The junction of the load 70 and the secondary winding of the transformer 37 is connected through the parallel combination of a resistor 82 and a capacitor 85 to a resistor 86, the remaining end of which is grounded. The junction of the resistor 85 and the parallel combination of the resistor 82 and the capacitor 8c is connected to the screen grid of the tube 56.

The network which includes the transformer 38, potentiometers 39 and 50 and resistors M and 52, allows the amplitude of the signal applied to the amplifier :34 to be varied from a maximum through zero and to a maximum in a negative direction. The position of the contact arms on the potentiometers 39 and 40 may be varied man ually or by mechanical means. The specific manner by which this is done will, of course, depend upon the specific use which is made of this invention. The output from the aforementioned network is applied through the amplifiers 44 and it, wherein it is amplified, to the control grids 52 and 54 of the control tubes 53 and 53. The signals applied to the plates 12 and i i of the tubes 55 and 53 are in 180 degree phase opposi tion, as are the signals applied to the screen grids of these tubes. The signals applied to the con trol grids of the tubes 56 and 58 are mutually in phase, and in phase with the signal at the plate of one of the tubes 56 and and out of phase with the signal at the plate of the remaining tubs. Thus a variation in the amplitude of the signal from the amplifier it will cause the current to increase in one of the loads 68 or E9 and to decrease in the remaining load.

The circuit shown in Fig. 8 produces control of the current in the loads 68 and it except for a dead spot, or region or" no control, over a small region in which the output of amplifier 46 is near Zero. This dead spot may be eliminated by modification of the circuit in such a manner that the signals applied to the screen grid and plate of each control tube 56 and 58 are in phase quadrature. The extent of the dead spot may be controlled by varying the constants of the networks which include resistors 'lfi, 80, S2 and 8S, and capacitors l8 and 84.

The circuit of Fig. 8 may be employed as a part of a servo system to cause a driver such as a motor to position any desired device such as an antenna array in a radio system in accordance with the setting of a potentiometer. To utilize the circuit of Fig. 8 in this manner the contact arms of the potentiometers 39 and 40 are mechanically dlsassociated, one being then associated with the device to be positioned, for example the antenna array, and the remaining contact arm being manually adjusted to a position corresponding to the position it is desired that the antenna attain. The loads 88 and 10 are utilized in a differential manner such as in a motor having two field windings. The direction. of rotation of the motor as well as its speed of rotation is then determined by the relative currents in the two windings, which currents are in turn determined by the relative positions of the contact arms on potentiometers 39 and 40. The windings of the motor are energized in such a manner that the motor will rotate the antenna in such a direction as to reduce the displacement error in the arms of potentiometers 39 and 40 to a minimum.

The invention herein disclosed will also function with vacuum tubes rather than gas tubes. Because of the high current ordinarily required in control work the use of gas tubes having two or more electrodes is preferred.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that where a gas rectifier tube having only one grid is to be used, in place of multi-grid tubes, the control voltage and the voltage which is applied to the screen grid in the foregoing embodi ments may be combined by use of a suitable network and the resultant voltage applied to the one grid. A suitable network may consist of a common impedance across which the two signals are applied. However, because this requires a more complicated circuit, and involves loss of gain and. a slight phase shift caused by interaction of the two signals, the two-grid tube circuits disclosed herein are preferable.

While there has been described What are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that Various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention.

What is claimed is:

An electrical circuit for controlling the 11-0. currents which fio-w through first and second loads in a push-pull manner, said circuit comprising an A.-C. source, means associated with said A.-C. source for providing a control voltage which may be varied in amplitude from a maximum in the positive direction through zero to a maximum in the negative direction, first and second gas type electron tubes each having at least plate, cathode, screen grid and control grid elements, transformer means having a center tap on the secondary winding thereof connected to said cathode elements, and being associated with said A.-C. source for applying a portion of the output thereof through said first and second loads to said plate elements in degree phase opposition, first and second phase shifter means associated with said transformer means and connected to screen grid elements, said and second phase shifter means being adapted to excite said screen grids of said first and second gas tubes substantially in 180 degree phase opposition, and means for applying said control voltage to both said control rids in phase, where by the average current flowing through said first and second loads may be controlled in a pushpull manner by variation of the amplitude of said control voltage.

FREDERICK A. RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,001,837 Craig May 21, 1935 2,150,265 Conover Mar. 4, 1939 

